Bellator News - Page 11

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While the dangers associated with playing professional football and other contact sports are well-documented, the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA,) Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) continue operate somewhat under the radar as their athletes enter the cage or ring and fight until what seems like an inevitably early death.

Bellator President Scott Coker said Evangelista Santos can rest easier as he recovers from a devastating knockout blow at this weekend’s Bellator 158 event.
Not only did Coker confirm that the promotion will take care of any and all medical bills stemming from “Cyborg” Santos’ skull-crushing knockout loss to Michael Page, but the Bellator head said the organization will also pay the Brazilian slugger his “win” bonus, as well.

Bellator welterweight Michael Page has a sport karate based style that makes him a one-man highlight reel. At Bellator 158 in London, he met the durable Evangelista 'Cyborg' Santos, and dispatched him with a jumping knee.
There is another side to the highlight reel that only fighters, coaches, and teams ordinarily get to see. Just as a highlight finish makes we asses in seats scream "HOLY F@$%ING $#!^" the losing side ordinarily suffers, dramatically.
However, there is little to prepare you for what happened to Cyborg Santos on Saturday night.
His ex-wife, the best female fighter in MMA, Cris 'Cyborg' Santos, just posted a GoFundMe request on the UG, and a horrific image on Instagram.

Linton Vassell has been knocked out of his bout with Francis Carmont at Bellator 158.
Vassell (16-5 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) was scheduled to compete in front of his fellow countrymen at the event, but will instead be replaced by Lukasz Klinger (7-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA).
Bellator 158 takes place July 16 at The O2 in London. The main card airs on Spike at 9 p.m. ET via tape delay. Untelevised prelims stream at 1 p.m. ET on MMAjunkie.
In addition to Klinger taking on Carmont (24-11 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) at light heavyweight, British heavyweight veteran Neil Grove (12-7-1 MMA, 3-3 BMMA) will take on James Mulheron (8-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) on the preliminary portion of the card.

Quinton Jackson likes Fedor Emelianenko a lot. "Rampage" has called the Russian legend an idol and a friend. That, however, does not mean a fight between the two is off the table.
Jackson told Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour that he'd be willing to fight Emelianenko, because the timing is right for them both.
"Fedor is one of the most gentlest giants you ever want to meet," Jackson said. "I've got the utmost respect for him. But sometimes the fans probably need to see fights like that. Me and him, we're both past our prime, I'm gonna be honest. We're older and stuff like that. Those are the types of fights that maybe Bellator wants to put on, when guys get over a certain age, maybe we should fight each other."
Jackson, 38, is a former UFC light heavyweight champion and a huge star in PRIDE, where Emelianenko, 39, also made his name. The two have a warm relationship, going back years, "Rampage" said.

After Bellator 157 a week ago, promotion President Scott Coker admitted he and his crew may have put the cart before the horse by announcing Matt Mitrione for a Bellator 158 fight against Oli Thompson.
After all, the announcement came mere minutes after Mitrione (10-5 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was floored by a punch from Carl Seumanutafa (10-7 MMA, 1-1 BMMA) (watch the video highlights here) in the first round. Likely seconds away from having the fight stopped, Mitrione survived and went on to recover for a knockout win a couple minutes later.

The card for Bellator 159 is complete and a featherweight showdown is one of the biggest additions.
Bellator today announced a bout between Emmanuel Sanchez(13-2 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) and Daniel Weichel (36-9 MMA, 5-1 BMMA) along with several other additions to the event, which takes place July 22 from Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.
Sanchez is riding a three-fight winning streak, including a split decision victory over Daniel Pineda at Bellator 149 in his most recent bout. In fact, all three of his victories in his current run have come by way of split decision.

Rampage Jackson's drawing power took a turn for the worst, as Friday night's Bellator show built around his return to the promotion averaged 601,000 viewers. The number was well below even the company's usual numbers of 650,000 for a secondary show.
But Friday's show was Dynamite, with the idea of it being Bellator's big event of the year. Nobody expected it to touch the kind of numbers they did in February when a double headliner of Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie and the late Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000 drew a record 1,964,000 viewer average over three hours. But this show, which also had a bout for the vacant lightweight title where Michael Chandler, Bellator's biggest homegrown star, beat Patricky "Pitbull" Freire, drew less than one-third of that total.
If anything it shows a combination of just how big Slice, Shamrock and Gracie were as draws, and that Jackson, at least when it come to a fight with Ishii, was not in their league when it came to garnering interest in his fight.

ST. LOUIS – It was a banner night for Missouri's own Michael Chandler on Friday.
Not only did he make the roof come off of the Scottrade Center with his clean knockout of Patricky Freire, but Chandler regained Bellator's lightweight title.
And afterwards, as he sat perched on the fence celebrating his big moment, he had an encounter with Patricky's brother Patricio, who was cageside.
What was that all about?
"Uh, it was interesting," Chandler said at the Bellator 157 post-fight presser conference. "I commend [Patricio], I take my hat off to him for getting emotional for his brother. I mean, if my brother had just got knocked out, I would've...I don't think I'd have done the same thing because I thought what he did was pretty disrespectful, but you've got to stick up for your brother.

ST. LOUIS – On a night when former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione made his Bellator debut, and former UFC champion Benson Henderson was cageside at the Scottrade Center to see him do it, the idea of free agency loomed in the air at Bellator 157: Dynamite 2.
And as of last weekend, there's one notable free agent that could ignite a little bidding war.
Rory MacDonald, who trains at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, fought out his contract in Ottawa against Stephen Thompson. Though he lost to "Wonderboy" it what was thought to be a No. 1 contender's bout, MacDonald is only 26 years old and has gone 9-4 in the Octagon. Two of his losses — against Carlos Condit in 2010 and against current welterweight champion Robby Lawler in 2015 — he found himself winning heading into the final round.
It doesn't hurt that he's a key to the Canadian market.

Matt Mitrione could make a quick turnaround following his victory over Carl Seumanutafa on Friday night, as “The Ultimate Fighter 10” veteran has already been booked against Oli Thompson at Bellator 158 on July 16.
The heavyweight matchup was announced following Mitrione’s first-round knockout over Seumanutafa at Bellator 157. “Meathead” rallied from an early knockdown to put his foe away with a big standing-to-ground right hand 3:22 into the period. The triumph ended a two-fight skid for Mitrione, who signed a multi-bout deal with the California-based promotion earlier this year.
While the bout was announced in the cage following Mitrione's victory on Friday night, Bellator officials confirmed that his participation in the event is contingent upon receiving medical clearance to compete on July 16. For now, the matchup is not official. During a post-fight interview, Mitrione admitted that he did not remember being knocked down by Seumanutafa.

Bellator could be headed down south for a late summer event on Spike.
Bellator 160 is targeted for Aug. 26, and Landers Center in Southaven, Miss., is a heavy favorite to host, multiple sources told MMAjunkie on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the news publicly.
Landers Center previously hosted Bellator 120, which featured a light heavyweight grudge match between Quinton Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal that ended in a controversial decision for Jackson and a raucous post-fight press conference.

Former Bellator MMA and Legacy Fighting Championship talent Ivan Cole reportedly shot and killed himself in a Dallas apartment on Saturday.
According to a post on CBS DFW’s Facebook page, Cole allegedly killed himself while playing Russian roulette. No further details regarding the incident were immediately available.
A statement on the Dallas Police Department’s website confirms that Ivan Robert-Earnest Cole was found dead after officers responded to a shooting at the 13700 block of Montfort Drive at approximately 7:31 a.m. local time. Cole was 25 years old.
<a href="mer Bellator MMA and Legacy Fighting Championship talent Ivan Cole reportedly shot and killed himself in a Dallas apartment on Saturday.
According to a post on CBS DFW’s Facebook page, Cole allegedly killed himself while playing Russian roulette. No further details regarding the incident were immediately available.
A statement on the Dallas Police Department’s website confirms that Ivan Robert-Earnest Cole was found dead after officers responded to a shooting at the 13700 block of Montfort Drive at approximately 7:31 a.m. local time. Cole was 25 years old.
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Originally scheduled to face former welterweight champion Douglas Lima at Bellator 156, Chidi Njokuani will now meet The Ultimate Fighter Brazil veteran Thiago Goncalves in the co-main event spot on June 17, MMA Fighting has learned with sources close to the situation. Lima takes on Paul Daley at Bellator 158.
Goncalves (18-4) makes his promotional debut a year after defeating Matt Baker at WSOF 21. "Jambo", who won six of his last seven fights, was originally booked against Ricky Rainey in the Bellator 156 prelims.

Michael Page has a new opponent for Bellator 158, as he will face Brazilian veteran Evangelista Santos in a featured welterweight bout on July 16 in London.
Promotion officials announced the new matchup on Thursday. Santos replaces Fernando Gonzalez, who was forced to withdraw from the contest due to visa issues. Bellator also confirmed that a previously reported 170-pound clash between Paul Daley and Douglas Lima will headline the card following the death of Kimbo Slice, who was scheduled to face James Thompson in the original main event, earlier this week.

It's the rivalry rematch that just can't come together.
Josh Koscheck is injured and out of his fight with Paul Daley at Bellator 158 on July 16 in London, MMA Fighting confirmed with Bellator officials Monday. Daley will now face former Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima instead. ESPN was the first to report the news.
Koscheck and Daley were supposed to fight on the same card in January in Koscheck's adopted hometown of Fresno, Calif., to set up a future bout. Koscheck was slated to face Matt Secor in the main event of his Bellator debut, but got injured in training and had to withdraw. Daley took over the main event spot, defeating Andy Uhrich. Afterward, Daley slammed Koscheck in the post-fight interview.

That long-awaited Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley rematch will have to wait a little longer.
Koscheck (17-10 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), a former UFC fighter who’s yet to make his Bellator debut, was forced out of a Bellator 158 bout with Daley (38-13-2 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) for undisclosed reasons, and former welterweight champion Douglas Lima (26-6 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has stepped in a replacement.
A Bellator rep confirmed the lineup change with MMAjunkie. ESPN.com first reported it.

Justin Lawrence will meet Isao Kobayashi in the featured preliminary bout at Bellator 157 "Dynamite 2" on June 24.
Promotion officials announced the featherweight pairing on Friday. Bellator 157 takes place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Quinton Jackson and Satoshi Ishii. The evening’s main card, which will also see Michael Chandler face Patricky Freire for the vacant lightweight title, airs on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. The preliminary draw will stream on Bellator.com beginning at approximately 6:30 ET/5:30 CT.